2025 Napier City Council election

2025 Napier City Council election

11 October 2025
Turnout21,325 (45.6%)
Mayoral election
 
Candidate Richard McGrath Kirsten Wise Nigel Simpson
Affiliation Independent Independent Independent
Popular vote 10,185 6,763 3,989
Percentage 47.76% 31.71% 18.71%

Mayor before election

Kirsten Wise
Independent

Elected mayor

Richard McGrath
Independent

Council election

11 seats on the Napier City Council
6 seats needed for a majority
Party Seats +/–
Independent

11 +1
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

The 2025 Napier City Council election was a local election held from 9 September to 11 October in Napier, New Zealand, as part of that year's territorial authority elections and other local elections held nation-wide.

Voters elected the mayor of Napier and 11 city councillors for the 2025–2028 term of the Napier City Council. Postal voting and the first-past-the-post voting system were used.

Councillor Richard McGrath won the mayoralty, defeating incumbent mayor Kirsten Wise.

In the prior term, the council had voted to introduce a Māori ward for this election; in a referendum on its future held at this election (as part of a nation-wide series of referendums) voters elected to remove the Māori ward for future elections.